The premature breakup of The Hurt Business in 2021 remains one of the most debated creative decisions in modern WWE history. Now, the group’s leader, MVP, has opened up about the end of the popular faction, revealing that he and Bobby Lashley “begged” Vince McMahon not to split them up and that the decision, along with a change in management, directly led to his departure from the company and his move to AEW.
The Hurt Business, comprised of MVP, Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and Cedric Alexander, was one of the most dominant and well-received acts of the pandemic era, holding both the WWE and Raw Tag Team Championships simultaneously. The group’s sudden and seemingly inexplicable breakup was met with widespread criticism from fans and, as MVP has now confirmed, from the members themselves.
Speaking on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, MVP detailed the frustration he and Bobby Lashley felt and their failed attempts to convince Vince McMahon to change his mind. He explained that this creative decision, combined with a dislike for a specific person in the new management structure, solidified his choice to leave WWE.
“Everybody knows that The Hurt Business got shut down in WWE for reasons that have never been made clear to me. No one has ever said, and I begged Vince, Bobby begged Vince, but please don’t do this. Vince had his ideas of what he wanted to do, and everybody genuinely agrees that we got shut down way too soon. So when it came time for our contracts, I made it very clear that I don’t want to be there anymore. There are people there in management that I dislike immensely, a person, and I wouldn’t even bother to get into that. But I just knew that with certain people in charge, and that’s how the wrestling game is, that’s how life is. I don’t care where you work. When management changes, some people are out, other people are in, and I knew it was time to go. I wasn’t gonna re-sign.”
MVP also revealed that he actively encouraged his former stablemates to join him in leaving WWE to re-form their group in AEW. He is thankful to AEW President Tony Khan for giving them the opportunity to continue their story as The Hurt Syndicate and to “pay it forward” by helping younger talent.
“I was in Bobby’s ear constantly like don’t re-sign. Shelton got released. Don’t re-sign. Let’s you me and Sheldon get back together. Let’s go to AEW. I know we can go to AEW and we can pick this thing back up. I’m grateful to Tony Khan for seeing the value in us and giving us an opportunity to come over there and continue to tell our story and help some of these younger talents. Because contrary to what the internet tells you, there are a lot of young guys that come up and ask us for advice and ask us to watch their matches and ask us for insight, and I love being able to pay it forward because people gave it to me. So thank you to Tony Khan for seeing something in us and believing in us and giving us an opportunity to end The Hurt Syndicate in AEW, and for us to finish telling our story.”
He is now a member of the AEW roster. You can hear his full interview on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
